Spicy Mustard Crock Pot Chicken

Ok, so it has been awhile since I have share a recipe or two.  So, why not make it three!  The next three posts are the most recent recipes that were all a huge success with my family.  Hopefully you are able to try at least one of them this next week.

Ingredients

• 4 Chicken Breasts
• 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 Tsp Garlic Powder
• 1/2 Tsp Sea Salt
• 1/2 Tsp Black Pepper
• 2/3 Cup Chicken Broth
• 4 Tbsp Honey
• 3 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
• 3 Tbsp Stone Ground Mustard
• 1 Tbsp Garlic Chili Sauce

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients, besides the chicken in a medium bowl.
2. Place chicken breasts into greased crock pot or dutch oven if cooking in oven.
3. If using crock pot, cook on low for 3 hours.
4. If cooking in oven, cook at 350 for 30 minutes.
5. Serve chicken on plate and spoon warm sauce on top.
6. I served the chicken breast on a salad and used the sauce as a spicy honey mustard dressing and even saved the left over sauce for salad dressing later in the week.

Meatzza

Ingredients

• 1 lb Ground Grass Fed Beef
• 3 Tbsp Ground Parmesan Cheese
• 1 Egg
• 2 Garlic Cloves, Chopped
• 1 Tsp Oregano
• 15 oz Diced Tomatoes
• Mozzarella
• 1 Handful Fresh Basil Leaves

Directions

1. Preheat oven at 420.
2. Combine beef, Parmesan, egg, garlic, and oregano in large bowl with hands.
3. Press into pan or dish until it forms a "crust."  I used a pie pan.
4. Drain the canned tomatoes until they are COMPLETELY dry.  Place on top of meat evenly spaced.
5. Add any other additional traditional pizza toppings, I also used chopped olives and spinach leaves.
6. Top with mozzarella.
7. Bake at 420 for 20-25 minutes.
8. Take out and let cool, cut like traditional pizza and top each slice with a fresh basil leaf.

Pan Seared Pork Chops With Fried Apples

Ingredients

• 5 Cloves Garlic, Chopped
• Fresh Cilantro, Chopped
• 1/4 Cup Beef, Bone, or Chicken Broth
• 4 Pork Chops
• 3 Gala Apples, Sliced
• 2 Tbsp Grass Fed Butter
• Garlic Powder
• Onion Powder
• Sea Salt
• Ground Black Pepper

Directions

1. In large frying pan, add garlic, cilantro, and broth, and heat over medium heat for 1-3 minutes.
2. Season pork chops with garlic and onion powder, sea salt and ground black pepper on both sides, and add to frying pan.  Cook each side until each pork chop is fully cooked.
3. While pork chops are cooking, melt grass fed butter in a different frying pan and add apples.  Saute apples over medium-high heat until soft. 
4. Add apples to the broth mixture and allow flavors to mix, for about 2-3 minutes.
5. Serve pork chops on plate and spoon broth mixture over top and add apples on top.

Hidden Vegetable Meatloaf

With this new diet (lifestyle), I am in need of some new recipes for dinner.  The kicker is, they have to be low (to zero) carb, taste good, and my kids have to like it.  This recipe met all the above criteria.  It was easy to make, did not take a lot of time to prep, and tasted delicious.  Plus any time you add bacon to a recipe, you know it's gotta be damn good!

Ingredients

• 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes (can substitute fresh tomatoes)
• 4-6 baby carrots diced, I used 3 regular carrots
• 1/2 large onion diced
• 3 large cloves, crushed and diced
• 1 handful baby spinach, chopped, I used collard greens
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• Pinch of dried parsely
• Pinch of dried thyme
• Pinch of dried savory
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• 1.5 pounds grass fed ground beef
• All natural, grass fed, bacon (cut in half strips)

Directions

1. Place the first 10 ingredients into a pot on stove over medium heat and cook until soft (about 20 minutes)
   
2. Once the carrots and onions are cooked down and soft, place the contents of the pot into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.  
   
3. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and let the vegetable mixture cool for 5-10 minutes and mix the vegetable mixture and the ground beef with your hands.
4. Form the meat mixture into mini loafs and place into a greased 10"x15" baking dish.  As you can tell the mixture might be a little runny, which is ok.
   
5. Top each loaf with a slice of bacon and place into the oven and cook until the bacon appears to be crisp (about 45 minutes).  I needed to drain the excess liquid out before serving, but they were very moist and flavorful.  
   

Off Season Diet

March of 2012, weighing about 175-180

I have always wanted to do a short 3-5 day cleansing diet.  I know that I eat a pretty clean diet, at least cleaner than most.  But,  I do have weaknesses.  Especially, over the past month.  It seems as though I have been making up for lost time since finishing the IM.  My diet has been more of an "eat what I want, when I want it," type of diet.  I have had beer, lots of processed foods, breads, crackers, granola bars, cereals, sweets, and ice cream.  It has been a complete 180* shift from what I was eating - and even then, my diet while training for the IM wasn't what I intended.  It was kind of tough, since I was always hungry.  I was constantly eating.  I tried to eat healthy, nutrient dense foods, but sometimes, a simple granola bar, or bowl of cereal was just easier.  But now, my training volume has dropped off the face of the planet.  I went from 15-20 hours of training a week, to about 4-5 hours a week...tops!

My post Ironman trip to Mexico, still hovering around 175

Back in 2009, and about 155, with a marathon PR of 3:03

Also, since I started working 3rd shift full time, my body has changed.  Not terribly, but the difference has definitely been noticed.  When I started with Winnebago County, I weighed in the range of 155-160 and now, I'm in the range of 170-175.  That's 15 pounds heavier!  Over the past year to year and a half, I have really wanted to get back down to that 155 range, which was lean and fast.  Weight can have a significant effect on running and biking times.  It's estimated that simply losing 10 pounds can result in a decrease of 15-20 seconds per mile in a 5k, which can knock off nearly a full minute, with everything remaining constant.  That crosses over to nearly a 10 minute decrease in a marathon time, with no change to your fitness, just weight lost.  For cycling, it's a little more difficult to estimate, but it's said that for a 160 pound rider riding up a 5 kilometer climb at a 7% grade, it would take an estimated 30 seconds longer for every additional 5 pounds of body weight added.  So, in other words, if a rider were to lose 20 pounds, they could do the same 5k climb a whole 2 minutes faster!  It's pretty obvious that there is a direct correlation to weight and speed in running and cycling.

High Cliff Triathlon, 2009

In attempt to drop my weight back down to the 155-160 range, I will begin a rather strict diet that will not only allow me to drop the excess weight I have put on over the past 2-3 years, but also fuel my body appropriately to be an efficient endurance machine (hopefully).  I will start with a 3-4 day cleanse/detox to clean out the system prior to initiating my new diet.  Starting on Friday, October 4th, I will start an Apple Detox.  It's pretty simple actually.  Eat nothing but organic apples, drink warm beverages, and drink either apple juice or apple cider.  I can eat as many apples as necessary to stay satiated, but there should be an fasting element to it.  At the end of the 3rd or 4th day, it is recommended to drink 2 tbsp of pure extra virgin olive oil to assist with processing whole food again.  I am choosing to do this cleanse/detox for a couple reasons.  First, it is something I have always wanted to try for the mental aspect as well as the health aspect.  Second, it will aid in starting a new style of eating for me.  Lastly, it will give me a head start with getting used to the lower daily caloric intake.  I have definitely been used to stuffing my face every day.  The past year I have eaten like a grazing cow, just throwing what ever is in front of me into my face.  And that needs to change.

Another from the Fox Cities Marathon, 2009

After completing the fast I will begin eating a higher fat diet than usual.  My plan is to not follow a strict diet each and every day, but to eat generally less food in volume, but much more nutrient dense food.  I will basically eliminate carbohydrates completely and increase fats and protein.  If I were to guess, while I was in the bulk of my Ironman training i ate about 70% carbs, 15% protein, and 15% fat.  My plan, now, is to be more around 15% carbs, 20% protein, 65% fat.  Why in the world would you eat so much fat???  Well, the human body burns fat as its primary fuel source at lower intensities, including low intensity exercising... i.e. running, biking, and swimming.  Many ultra runners and serious endurance athletes follow this type of diet, also called a ketogenic diet.  I want to at least give this diet a shot and be able to say I tried it.  I will not follow it to the letter, as many ultra marathoners do.  But, rather follow it closely, while still supplying my body with sugars when it needs them, such as before an intense 5k or short duration of a race.  My goal is to ultimately turn my body into a lean, light, fast, efficient fat burning machine.  A typical day would look something like this...

Breakfast (eaten late in the morning after a 12-16 hour overnight fast) : Avocado, with a few eggs
Lunch: Nuts, vegetables, fish filet
Dinner: Salad with sardines

Pretty basic, eat clean, eat unprocessed, and know what the hell your eating!

I want to give it a serious attempt before I quit.  I want to do it for 3 months, I figure that will allow me to develop an honest opinion on it as to whether or not I feel any different or if it is even worth it.  That will bring me to the new year, January 4th, 90 days.  It will be a new challenge of sorts, but a fun one - and what better time to try something like this than now.  I have no concrete plans for the future that I need to be concerned with, so if I fall flat on my face and find out the diet isn't for me and my fitness suffers, oh well.  I can at least look back and say, "hey, I tried that once."